The Wilmingtonian., 1887-03-12
VOL. L.VI.-NO.27 271
The Sewerage Ghost.

oil chicago, bne JTtOuHe vi buab c'Iy va o'
terprsing newspapers sent special CORES
pondeut to Memphis to investigate thorough
ly The workings OF Col. Warnings system o.
sewea age in that city. The correspondent
wa, directed to investigate The matter from
a radically impartial standpoint, and lie thu
"declares that the Memphis system ot
sewerage is a complete and mpehensi,
failure.''
On the heels of this comes to u the repor'
OF Dr. Thornton Of the Meinihis board o.
h, alth, III which th appalling deall-rate -
that ill-starred city is attributed to the sew
craze s, stem in use there. 30 the ghast.
talk Of death traps, sew er gas, insidions a"
posons, typhoid saturated waters death
aud percentage Of m ,rtnary reports hav'
bee me the theme OF CONVEX sat,un and "pii-
lou on thus snl ject 1t is p,ohabe that
the health repo OF Memphis had been d..
fsrr.d awhile there would have been little ur
no opposition here TO the scheme OF III
sewerage company, but the vent la'iou
the pa pable fact that stands out o giaring-
ly in thu terrible death-Iate of Memphis,ha'
ALA med aud frightened everybody who 1t
intel ested iu the matter.
Summing up The objections, they amoun
to wit: II sewerage is confined as proposed
aud disposed of in ipe reservoirs, the ci'n-
oentratlon Of sewer-gas will become very
dangerous aud poisonous element in tht
houses of this city. The traps that would
be used are really traps. for, 1t matters not
how carefully they are made aud cared fol.
they canuot and do not prevent the pref
ence of the insidious ethereal poison OF sew.
er gas from occurug in all places so trapped
H. is true, that the Mayor of Memphis j.,
reply to some interrugatiOms of the EUe'5
Eoeaing sought to tune down some Of III
ragged edges of the above report, but
must be remembered that the Mayor was a,
ca parte witness upon this question.
The Mayor of city is not supposed t.
publ sh TO the wcrld dark picture of ht
municipality.
The Mayor Of Memphis may not have fel
it within his fiji :idl line TO publish an alarm
ing moltuary record for his clry-in fact la,
he SO elected he might ave found his te,.
nure of uf1i1e very brief.
A i've independent newspaper has neit-
aui therefore its utterauces eau be taken a
their face value.
The concurrent opinion of our people upo'
the QUESTION Of sewerage as applied to th,
city is that s.
I'VE had better endure the evils we hav
Than to fl to those we know not of.
The Morning Neacs says
''We are undrr the impression that IT,
WHINING roNIAN is about light ia its prntes
against ,urulng the sewerage ot ftls city, y
the general system of sewers, into any "
our adj .cent navigable waters. Both 9
our 9 eeks AID the DrlhwaIe rivcr are tida
streams, with an ebb and flow, Instead of
continuous running current Aside flo
the tlissnlving power OF the waTer; thrI
would not be much removal of the tith b
the alternate movements of the tide. TIL
result would probably ba that 'hese strean
would bee M la gely open sewers, with
chance, uudrr the influence Of varying wild'
of llugerins depnsiGS, Of an unpleasant an
perhaps of an unSholesome nature, upu
the banks"
Mr.. George G. Lobdell, the recognize
head and front of our manufacture g inte
ests, states ''Ihat the proposition to emp'
the sewerage of Wilmington into the Cnrl
tiaua river is pregnant with danger
AS proof of the sluggiSness Of the waite
OF this stream 'he said he has seen the ca
casses of dogs and hogs drifting from on
side of the stream To the other for two week
between Poplar stleet aud the Sd sire
b, ldge. MIR. Lubdell Furthermore stat,
that even The few private sewers are imple
na'irg he atmosphere in the locality Of i
works with an fl lva that is most ubno
ious.
Had the City Council adopted Col W;
iug's system IF sew eIage and carried into I
Christ ana river tie exoreta Of this city
make The declaration that vii II n he cumi
decade every manufacturing es'ahIishne
on the bauk4 Of that stream would be co
pelled 10 close its doors.
Th, Sc couyerSant with the history Of c
cagO will bear witness to the statement Il
the sewage Of Chicago emptled iuto /
Chicago river caused such a mortal
among the merchants and manufactures V
transacted business in proxmily to
bauks OF tile Chicago river that the citz
of Chicago were panic stricSen; ard t
feeling OF terror was not relieved until a
al was dug at an enormous expenditure c
Meeting Chicago river with the Ill nos SO
to create a swift current
Prof. N. ). Davis told the writer in
that the sewerage emptied into the Chic
liver before the current Of the stream
change nearly dephpulated Chicago of
brig hlpst business lights. The atmospt
in the neighborhood of that river became
font aui vtlaied hat il b came as much